Death penalty makes the world more just, not less | Opinion
I am an American Jew born in 1950, just a few years following the mass murder of two-thirds of Europe’s Jews. I have never believed that executing someone who committed a heinous crime was wrong.
In a recent idealistic opinion piece ("There is no healing with more killing in name of justice," Aug. 14), Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp of Temple Sholom in Blue Ash wrote that she regretted the death penalty sentence for the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. The gunman, Robert Bowers, killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at the Tree of Life Chapel in 2018.
I do not think capital punishment is unethical, or that opponents of capital punishment occupy some moral high ground. Nor do I believe that the execution of a murderer makes the world less just. In fact, the opposite.
When someone commits a terrible act, punishment is required. This punishment is on behalf of the victim and of the whole community. Critics say this is "just vengeance," as if that ends the argument. Forgiveness is personal and can only come from the victim or family. If you wish to turn the other cheek, fine. But don’t expect the victim or the community to carry that burden.
In our current system, despite thousands of murders each year, almost none are sentenced to death, and few of those are carried out. The delays are often decades. In the rare event when a murderer is executed, there are always vigils, perhaps even tears. Frankly, these are so cruel to the families of the victims. Yes, some consideration should be given to those families, including carrying out sentences swiftly.
Opponents always bring up the possibility of executing an innocent person, but they are opposed even if they know the person is not innocent. Or they hold out for the person’s change, their "redemption." Again, that is cruel to the families left behind, and society does not owe it to a murderer.
I have other opinions regarding punishments of criminals. Criminals should be held under difficult conditions. The perpetrators should be awake, and executions should not be painless. Why should they be? The guilty conscience that society seems to feel about capital punishment is misplaced. Again, think about the victims. No, execution doesn’t bring about healing; nothing does.
What of those with that life sentence? Maybe they have family visits, conjugal visits, marriage, correspondence, classes, moments of pleasure, even a sense of being remembered or campaigned for. Life.
Rabbi Terlimchamp writes that "all souls are working their way back to God." In the Judaism, I was taught, there is no afterlife, that our work is here. I believe that actual justice does "repair the world."
David Dukart lives in Montgomery.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Death penalty makes the world more just, not less | Opinion
